Pass rate
70.0%
Below average — 2.6 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 90 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £44–£124
2003 Hyundai Elantra MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 65,671 mi
Only 90 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Brakes
22.4% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2006 72.3% pass
- Avoid 2005 67.1% pass
Across the 6 years on record, a spread of 5.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 62.0%
- Typical mileage
- 66k mi
The 2003 Hyundai Elantra MOT pass rate is 70.0% of its MOT tests — 2.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.4% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Hyundai Elantra does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.2× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 12.5% of everything recorded on the 2003 Hyundai Elantra, against 5.6% nationally — 6.9 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 22.4%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 32% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
- Based on a small sample. 90 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
Written from this page's own figures: fault shares against the national composition, the like-for-like pass rate, and the priced repair list. How these are worked out
Watching a Hyundai Elantra? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Hyundai Elantra compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 2.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 62.0%. The median 2003 Hyundai Elantra in this dataset had covered 65,671 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 88% of tests, with a 68.4% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 71.2% of the time, April–September 68.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier", noted on 6.67% of tests.
- 90 recorded tests behind this page.
- 70.0% overall pass rate, 62.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Hyundai Elantra, the average is 68.8% — best year 2006 (72.3%), worst 2005 (67.1%).
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
This page's data
- Tests analysed
- 90
- Typical mileage (median)
- 65,671 mi
- Make and model
- Hyundai Elantra
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Battery
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Elantra MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 55% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (88% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Elantra
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 24 | 66.7% |
Regions come from the postcode area recorded at the test station. Areas on region borders are assigned to the region with the majority of their population.
What fails a 2003 Elantra
Everything a tester recorded on this vehicle, grouped into the inspection sections that produced it. The notch on each bar is the national share, so you can see at a glance whether this car is unusual or just ordinary.
A test can record several items, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The exact strings, with prices, are in the full DVSA record at the bottom of this page.
Before your test
Three checks worth doing on a 2003 Elantra
These are not generic tips — they are the faults recorded most often on this exact model, rewritten as things you can check yourself. All three take about ten minutes and cost nothing.
-
Check the battery 6.7% of tests
“battery(ies) insecure”
Check the battery is secure and its terminals are clean and tight — a loose battery is a fail on its own, and a weak one shows up as slow cranking on a cold morning.
-
Check the wipers and washers 4.4% of tests
“wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the screen.
-
Check the lights 3.3% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
Switch everything on and walk round the car: both headlamps on dip and main, every indicator, both brake lights, reverse, fog and the two number-plate lamps. A bulb is a few pounds and a five-minute job.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
What it costs to get a 2003 Elantra through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £44–£124 — and 32% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £44–£124
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 32%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 90 MOT tests on this vehicle. They exclude diagnostics, retest fees and garage labour where the part is a DIY fit, and they are not figures from the DVSA dataset. Older and higher-mileage examples cost more than the average. How these estimates are built → · All MOT repair costs → · Cheapest cars to put through a test →
Every year of the Elantra, side by side
6 model years on record, from 2001 to 2006. Across them the pass rate runs from 67.1% to 72.3% — a spread of 5.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 70.7% component mounting prescribed…
- 2002 67.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 70.0%battery(ies) insecure but not…
- 2004 67.4% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 67.1% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2006 72.3% component mounting prescribed…
Colour is the pass rate on a fixed scale, so a block means the same thing on any model. Each year links to its own page with the full fault breakdown.
Compare the 2003 Hyundai Elantra with another year
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Other 2003 cars with a similar record
- Land Rover Freelander 70.0%
- Ford Mondeo 70.0%
- SEAT Ibiza 70.0%
- Peugeot 406 70.0%
- Peugeot 206 69.9%
- Skoda Fabia 70.1%
Closest pass rates among 2003 cars with at least 2,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. See the full rankings: best and worst MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2003 Hyundai Elantra 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 10 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 298 individual items recorded on this vehicle, and the same share across all cars nationally. A single test can record several items, so a row is not a percentage of tests.
| Category | Items | This car | Nationally | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 68 | 22.40% | 20.89% | +1.51 |
| Suspension | 55 | 18.10% | 20.98% | −2.88 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 38 | 12.50% | 5.57% | +6.93 |
| Tyres | 34 | 11.20% | 19.76% | −8.56 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 31 | 10.20% | 12.21% | −2.01 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 23 | 7.60% | 5.52% | +2.08 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 16 | 5.30% | 1.76% | +3.54 |
| Steering | 13 | 4.30% | 2.57% | +1.73 |
| Visibility | 11 | 3.60% | 4.97% | −1.37 |
| Non-component advisories | 9 | 3.00% | 4.18% | −1.18 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.7% | £60–140 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 5.6% | £80–250 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 5.6% | £80–250 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 5.6% | £45–110 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 4.4% | £8–22 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.3% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 3.3% | £5–25 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.3% | £3–12 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 3.3% | £60–150 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency less than 50% of the required value Brakes | Major | 3.3% | £45–110 |
Severity is as recorded: Major and Dangerous fail the test outright; Minor and Advisory do not. Costs are estimates from typical UK parts prices — see how they are built.
What testers noted without failing the car
Advisories are the early warnings — the same parts a year or two before they fail. Reading them is how you tell a car that has been maintained from one that has been patched.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 18.9% | £40–150 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 17.8% | £45–120 |
| Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle | Advisory | 17.8% | £20–80 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 17.8% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 17.8% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 16.7% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 2 | 100.0% | 26,359 mi |
| 30-60k | 25 | 76.0% | 48,742 mi |
| 60-90k | 41 | 63.4% | 69,980 mi |
| 90-120k | 16 | 75.0% | 99,430 mi |
| 120k+ | 6 | 66.7% | 163,162 mi |
Source: 90 recorded tests on this vehicle-year. Every row above is recomputed from the same DVSA extract as the rest of the page — see the methodology.
2003 Elantra MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Hyundai Elantra?
70.0% of the 90 2003 Hyundai Elantra tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 62.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Hyundai Elantra?
The three most recorded items are battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier (6.67%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (5.56%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (5.56%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Hyundai Elantra MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 66.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Hyundai Elantra in this dataset had covered 65,671 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2003 Hyundai Elantra?
Petrol: 68.4% pass rate across 79 tests. Diesel: 81.8% pass rate across 11 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2003 Hyundai Elantra MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 71.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 68.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.